October 23, 2001	Tuesday	Shaba'an 5, 1422

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MULTAN, Oct 22: Police in this part of the country are unable to either track down the culprits or to resolve the mysteries of somewhat nine high-profile murder incidents that claimed the lives of 24 people during the last six months.

Due to its socio-economic backwardness, south Punjab has been the target of terrorism in the name of sectarian strife as its patrons find ‘hitmen’ for the purpose from seminaries spread in length and breadth of former Multan, Bahawalpur and Dera Ghazi Khan divisions.

The police sleuths see sectarianism in five of the nine ‘unresolved mysteries’ of murders, including the killings of former state minister for foreign affairs Sadddiq Khan Kanju and his aide former MPA Muhammad Aslam Khan Joiya.

But ironically culprits involved in these nine gruesome acts of crime are still at large although police high-ups claim that the outlaws will soon be brought to book.

On the other hand, social and political circles of the area term the situation a complete failure of the department. They say police officers feel no ‘disgrace’ in holding press conferences after nabbing small-time criminals while their investigation and intelligence cells have failed to apprehend the culprits involved in incidents.

Vehari police has proved even more inefficient in this regard as four of the nine cases of unresolved mysteries are to be unfolded in this district.

Mumtazabad case: Some five assailants riding on two motorcycles opened fire in Mumtazabad locality of Multan city near Imamia Masjid on June 14 last and fled away leaving Sabir and Imtiaz dead and five others injured. The complainants also blamed a judge of the special court in the incident.

Girls’ murder: Some assailants butchered three daughters of Malik Niaz Ahmed in Mailsi town of Vehari district and a daughter of his brother Malik Khursheed on April 12 last when the elders were outside busy in their business.

Akram Manais: Motorcyclists gunned down Akram Manais, uncle of former Punjab assembly speaker Saeed Ahmed Manais, on July 19 last in Mailsi. The deceased was a respected figure of the area and was assumed instrumental in the political success of Saeed Manais.

Kirmani case: Former TJP Vehari district president Ziaul Hassan Kirmani and his two companions were shot dead by three motorcyclists in busy Quaid-i-Azam Bazaar of Mailsi when they had just come out of the office of tehsil army monitoring cell on July 24 last.

Kanju case: Former state minister Saddiq Khan Kaju, who was a candidate for the Lodhran district nazim slot, and Kehror Pucca tehsil Nazim candidate Aslam Joiya were gunned down in busy Karim Bazaar of Kehror town by some four assailants riding on a car on July 28 last.

Irum case: A young woman, Irum, her sister Farah and an acquaintance Waseem were on their way to a local hospital when they were aimed at. Irum succumbed to her injuries in the Multan Nishtar hospital on Aug 6 last while Farah slipped away from the hospital after remaining under treatment for several days. Police arrested Waseem, claiming the incident a shootout between the outlaws and the law enforcers.

First the police claimed that Irum was riding on a car with alleged dacoit Awais and was killed when police opened fire as Awais did not stop the car despite being ordered by a raiding team of Muzaffarabad police. Later, the law enforcement agency changed the stance and claimed Irum was shot dead by the criminal she was riding with in a car. There are a lot of questions to be answered in this incident occurred near Eidgah, Multan.

Killing in Yazman: Eight members of a family — Rshid Ali, Shakila, Kishwar, Zarina, Zara, Imran, Ishrat and Jabbar — were found dead on Aug 15 in their house situated in Chak 113/DB of Yazman, Bahawalpur. Area police claimed that Kishwar’s brother Khalid had murdered all the eight victims as he was not happy over her marriage with Jabbar. Khalid has been at large along with his wife and an infant baby girl since the incident.

DSP’s murder: Deputy superintendent of police Kausar Abbas was jogging at Bahawalpur stadium in the evening of Aug 27 when some motorcyclists shot dead him.

Kitchi murder case: An elder of influential Kitchi family of Vehari, Ahmed Yar Kitchi was shot dead reportedly by four assailants riding on a car near Mailsi on the Khanewal Road on Oct 19 last. The culprits also gunned down a TJP leader Allama Nazir Abbas on the same road at his shop 15 minutes later.

Police claim that terrorists of a sectarian outfit are involved in the incidents of Mumtazabad, Kirmani case, Kanju case, DSP Kausar Abbas and the double murder cases of Ahmed Yar Kitchi and Nazir Abbas. The sleuths also see these people’s involvement in the murder of Akram Manais.

A senior police officer, on the condition of anonymity, said it seemed that the ‘hitmen’ of a terrorist group had started committing murders for cash rewards from personal rivals of area influentials and the murders of Kanju, Manais and Kitchi should be investigated in this way.